Replace your smoke alarm batteries when you jump ahead an hour
A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm will alert you and your family to a fire
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you’re awake or asleep, a working smoke
alarm is constantly on alert, scanning the air for fire and smoke.
However, smoke alarms need power to work. Fire services urge everyone to replace
their smoke alarm batteries once a year. The average lifespan of a 9-volt battery is
about one year. An easy way to remember this is by changing batteries at the same
time that you change your clocks for the beginning or end of daylight saving time. This
spring Daylight Saving time begins on Sunday, March 11th at 2:00 a.m.
It’s also important to replace smoke alarms that are 10 years or older as they wear out
with age and may malfunction or not work at all. In a recent online poll* more than 74
per cent of the 2,200 Canadians surveyed said they believed smoke alarms never need
to be replaced. This is WRONG.
The poll also asked homeowners if they tampered with their smoke alarms. The survey
showed 55 per cent had disabled a smoke alarm by removing the battery, or by
removing the alarm form the ceiling altogether. Compounding this, about half stated
they later forgot to reinstall the battery or put the alarm back on the ceiling.
Having a working smoke alarm could save your life and that of your family. Please take
the time to change your batteries and replace smoke alarms that are 10 years or older.
For more information:
Contact your local fire department or visit: www.3minutedrill.alberta.ca
*Canadians surveyed for the 2008 poll lived in homes 10 years or older. The survey was
commissioned by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and Kidde Canada.